Those who trust in him will understand truth: This does not refer to truth in general; it means a true understanding of how God governs the world, how he deals with the just and the unjust. Good News Translation “understand the truth of his ways” is a bit out of focus; it seems to imply “that his ways are true,” which is not the point. It is better to simply have “understand his ways,” or even “understand what God’s ways really are.”
And the faithful will abide with him in love: In spite of an ambiguity here, this seems to refer to God’s love for “those who have been faithful” (Good News Translation) rather than their love for God (American Translation [An American Translation] with “those who are faithful will cling to him in love”). Translators could have “those who have been faithful to him will live with him and he will love them.” Those who trust in him and the faithful are close in meaning, and can be combined in some such way as this: “Those who have put their trust in God and been faithful to him will understand his ways. They will live with him and be loved by him [or, he will love them].”
Because grace and mercy are upon his elect: There is a textual problem with this line and the following line, which Good News Translation omits (see the Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation footnotes, and compare 4.15). There are basically two problems: (1) Is the word elect or holy ones in the first line? (2) Does a following line belong in the text? The Handbook recommends that translators include both lines, with holy ones in the first one and elect in the second (so New Jerusalem Bible, New Revised Standard Version, New American Bible, Winston). Using the New Revised Standard Version text as the basis for discussion, “because grace and mercy are upon his holy ones,” we suggest the following as a model: “because he is kind and merciful to his holy people [or, the people he has chosen].” His elect or his holy ones means “those he has chosen.”
“And he watches over his elect” (New Revised Standard Version) is literally “there is a visitation of his elect.” The word “visitation” is discussed in the note on 2.20, and this line appears to be a deliberate reference back to 2.20. That verse is the closing of the long speech of the unrighteous, and 3.9 closes the section in which the author answers that speech. In 2.20 the ungodly had said, “[The righteous] seem to think that God will come and save them [visit them].” Here the author says, “God will indeed come and save [visit] his chosen people.” Translators should refer back to their translation of 2.20, and see if there is a way in which 3.9 can be worded so as to make the connection clear. (Many readers will not catch it anyway, but it would be good if the connection were clear enough that an attentive reader could see it.) Of course, clarity in each context must take precedence over an attempt at similar wording. For instance, if at 2.20 translators had said “After all, they seem to think that God would come and save them,” here they could say “God will indeed come and save them [or, act to save them].”
An alternative model for the verse is:
• Those who have put their trust in God and been faithful to him will understand his ways. They will live with him and be loved by him, because he is kind and merciful to the people he has chosen. God will indeed come and save them [or, act to save them].
Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on The Wisdom of Solomon. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2004. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.